Bad writing happens to have a strong correlation with romance novels, but correlation isn't causation and all that.
Yeah, yeah, but the end result is the same: steering clear of those shelves in bookstores. Ugh.
I just finished A Long Way Down. It was...okay. Not bad. But if I'd read it first, it wouldn't have inspired me to pick up anything else by him. I'm halfway through How To Be Good, and it's a bit better, but I'm taking a break from it right now and I'm not sure when I'll get up the initiative to finish it.
Odd. Maybe it's just that I'm really attached to his books on a personal level, and not just on a literary, aesthetic level. I've never read anyone so articulate about depression, and his writing has helped me understand my own depression better. Oh well, I guess his books might be a niche market. Much like his sense of humor. Alas.
AaB was funnier than both of these, which is I think why I liked it more. Maybe?
AaB was freaking hilarious. I mean, Will could be seen as a ridiculous caricature, except for the fact that he was lying through his teeth a lot. I think part of what's great about Hornby is his ability to write brutal honesty (and brutal not-so-honesty) in a really funny way. I thought about taking it to read on the bus to work, but decided not to, because I couldn't laugh as hard as I wanted to on a bus. Yeah, AaB isn't nearly as dark as HtbG or ALWD.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-11-11 07:39 am (UTC)Yeah, yeah, but the end result is the same: steering clear of those shelves in bookstores. Ugh.
I just finished A Long Way Down. It was...okay. Not bad. But if I'd read it first, it wouldn't have inspired me to pick up anything else by him. I'm halfway through How To Be Good, and it's a bit better, but I'm taking a break from it right now and I'm not sure when I'll get up the initiative to finish it.
Odd. Maybe it's just that I'm really attached to his books on a personal level, and not just on a literary, aesthetic level. I've never read anyone so articulate about depression, and his writing has helped me understand my own depression better. Oh well, I guess his books might be a niche market. Much like his sense of humor. Alas.
AaB was funnier than both of these, which is I think why I liked it more. Maybe?
AaB was freaking hilarious. I mean, Will could be seen as a ridiculous caricature, except for the fact that he was lying through his teeth a lot. I think part of what's great about Hornby is his ability to write brutal honesty (and brutal not-so-honesty) in a really funny way. I thought about taking it to read on the bus to work, but decided not to, because I couldn't laugh as hard as I wanted to on a bus. Yeah, AaB isn't nearly as dark as HtbG or ALWD.